The Beginning

My quest with AJAX has taken me on different roads in the past few months. AJAX talks of the promise to be able to build "Rich Internet Applications" (RIAs). But that we already know. What we want to know now is its limits and if there is something beyond that.

Exploring all the frameworks/libraries available wrt AJAX, I find yui to be the most well written, extendible and documented. I would recommend yui to anybody who wants to make an AJAX based application, wants to learns more about AJAX, wants to improver his/her javascript(js) knowledge or develop their own widgets. A lot of good, reusable, well documented, well written code there. Kudos.

AJAX demands extensive use of javascript and more often than not you do end up having a lot of duplicate logic on the browser and push the browser to its limits. Cross-browser issues come if you dont test extensively. And there is this unholy mixing of model with the view with the controller. Like java swings architecture, one may digest somewhat tighter coupling with the view and the control. But when it comes to data, it makes me nervous when I have to mix it with the view. With the ability to segregate code using javascript object, this problem can be handled to some extent as yahoo have done it. But it is there to some extent.

AJAX is to stay. But there is something else that is grabbing my attention these days: flex. What about flex? Will come back with it soon!